This is Just My Imagination, Right?
by AurorasFire
Summary: Summary: Year 2003. The Heartless have returned, and this time Earth is destroyed. Now a young girl from New York must prove herself in the search for her family and friends across worlds she had thought only existed in movies and video games…


Summary: Year 2003.  The Heartless have returned, and this time Earth is destroyed.  Now a young girl from New York must prove herself in the search for her family and friends across worlds she had thought only existed in movies and video games…

Disclaimer: The various video games and movies I mention belong to their rightful owners.  I especially do not own Kingdom Hearts.  However, any characters that you do not recognize do belong to me.  They are my own creations, and please do not use them in your own fanfiction.  Thank you.

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 "Aww, why can't this stupid computer work?!"

Two Chihuahua heads popped up from under a floral-print blanket, startled at the remark.  Then content that their mistress was being as crazy as she normally was, they drifted off into sleep again.  

Anne Jacobson, known to most as Annie, to some as "that crazy girl with the Chihuahuas" slumped back in the creaking desk chair as her computer froze for the third time in four hours.  She made a face at the Dell Inspiron, and uncontrollably shivered.  Not very surprising, as the pastel bedroom was at best fifty degrees, not to mention she was wearing a t-shirt. 

Annie then gave up on surfing the Internet and shut off her computer.  Of course, without shutting it down, which was probably why the laptop always acted up.  Still shivering, the tall, usually graceful girl stumbled over a phone line, a book, a clock, and a shoe in rapid succession.  After this, she let out a stream of curses that she had picked up from her friend Daffy.  

A blond, very annoying sixteen-year-old head popped out from behind the door.  "You know, Mom's not going to like that much," stated Lia, Annie's sister.  Both of the siblings were tall and had blue eyes, but the resemblance ended there.  Where Annie was a brunette and her father's somewhat bulgy nose, Lia had blond hair and their mother's normal-looking nose.  Also, Lia was "Miss Perfect," always signing up for various charities, clubs, perfect grades, etc.  Annie, on the other hand, was bright but never studied and had a tendency to curse.  Don't get me wrong though, they got along well, better than many siblings.  It was just that Annie sometimes got tired of being in her shadow.

Of course, getting along well didn't mean that they never made fun of each other.

Annie stuck her tongue out at Lia.  "Well, Mom isn't here, is she?  She went to sleep hours ago."

Leaning on the doorway, Lia stuck her tongue right back at her little sis.  "I wonder why.  Oh, maybe it's because it's, oh, three in the morning."  Lia got back up, and left to go to her room.  However, she then turned around and said, "Besides, I thought you were going to the mall with Bridget and the rest of the 'Five Horrors of the World," smirking as she used her nickname for the group of Annie's friends.

Annie fell onto her bed.  "We're leaving at one.  I should be up just in time at around twelve-thirty."  She grinned, and with a "good-night," Lia went back to her room.

As she snuggled under the covers, ignoring the small whimpers of protest from the pups, Annie took a quick glance at the pictures she always kept on her nightstand.  One, in a mahogany frame, was of her family: her mother, father, Lia, herself, Tito, and Anita (previously referred to as the Chihuahuas).  The other, in a wild frame Annie had made herself, was of the "Five Horrors of the World" at Daffy's birthday party.  

Annie was in the middle, grinning cheekily at the camera, shoulder-length brown hair down around her shoulders.  Next to her was Bridget Windsor, Annie's best friend.  Wisps of reddish-brown hair curled around her face, escapees of a half-back-half-down hairstyle.  Serious green eyes that stood out against her freckles belied her true personality, a fun, book-loving person with a fear of generally anything new and a love of romance.  The glasses she wore were slipping off her nose, and were also about to fall on the person below her.

This person was Daffy Freeding, the birthday girl.  Child of former hippies who named her Daffodil, her nickname "Daffy" fit her more than her true name.  She was a wacky, crazy girl who would try anything for the sake of trying it and wore vintage clothes she found at garage sales and other strange places (with a tendency to curse whenever she wanted).  Short, bright blond hair (with a green streak) stuck out at all angles, contrasting with the dark cats-eye glasses she wore.  Her mouth was in an open smile, while her arms were reaching out to mug the camera.     

Taryn Morrison stood above Bridget, dark eyes staring at the camera.  The responsible one, Taryn had a penchant for anything mystical and magical.  She often wore dark colors, with her long black hair streaming behind her.  Extremely quiet, Taryn would often sit down and hear every side of every fight, therefore also being the peacemaker of the group.  Taryn also stood up for those downtrodden and could be extremely belligerent toward those who would make fun of other people.  When she was little, she was often called "Taryngitis" because of how different she was, therefore being also untrusting.  She had been lucky to find such a great group of friends.

The last person to complete the "Five Horrors of the World" was Jackie Nakimura.  A photo and movie-making nut, it was her camera that this picture had been taken on, though it was Daffy's mom who had actually taken the picture.  Happy-go-lucky, Jackie would see the bright side of everything, no matter how bad it really was.  With straight black hair and almond-shaped eyes, Jackie could pass for a model, but instead preferred to be behind the cameras instead of in front of them. 

Annie shook her head.  With her group of friends, almost anything could and probably would happen, like the time they went on the Ferris wheel and they were stuck on top.  Bridget was scared stiff while Taryn was trying to comfort her, and Annie and Daffy were trying not to look over the rail, and Jackie wasn't helping by singing at the top of her lungs a song by Utada Hikaru… which one was it?  Oh yeah, "Hikari."  She didn't even sing the English version, she sang it in Japanese.  No wonder the Ferris wheel people were looking at her strangely.

What brought these five unlikely friends together?  Kingdom Hearts.  They were all part of a gaming community that loved the game and played it non-stop.  When Taryn had first moved to the neighborhood, she had brought the game from her old home in Brooklyn and invited her cousin, Daffy, to come over.  Then Daffy invited her best friend Jackie to play, and then Jackie invited Bridget, then Bridget invited Annie, and all of them loved the game from the start.  

Annie and Taryn were the residential Disney nuts, while Jackie was the Final Fantasy fan.  The group also often had long discussions about the game and its upcoming sequel.  Annie lied back on the bed and smiled while she thought of the last conversation.

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_Yesterday, Daffy's house, 3:14 PM  _

_Daffy dangled her legs off of her desk as she leaned over to Taryn.  "I'm serious!  What if KH was real and we're one of the worlds, but we don't know the other worlds exist because then we would be meddling?"  She blew a stray blond hair out of her face.  "Well, actually, we know about the other worlds, but we all think they're from movies and video games.  They could be real!"  _

_"Ah yes, and the cafeteria ladies are actually aliens that are trying to capture us so that they could do tests on us on their home planet.  Remember that one?"  Annie lied backwards on Daffy's bed, her head hanging off of the side of the bed and a smirk on her face. _

_"Not to do tests you idiot!  It was to make us all slaves and work in their alien coal fields!"  Daffy frowned in exasperation.  "That's an entirely different thing!"_

_The four other people in the room stared at her strangely for a few minutes before the short Japanese girl lying on the pillows spoke up. _

_"Daffy, I was with you on the aliens thing, but the KH idea…" Jackie paused for a second.  "It's not plausible.  Yeah, it's interesting, but could never happen." _

_Daffy shrunk down into a ball before replying sarcastically, "Oh, sure, dash all my dreams that Riku will suddenly come down from the sky and save me because my heart was stolen."  _

_The five girls burst out in loud laughter at the ridiculous statement.  Well, actually, only three of them did.  Bridget was giggling behind her hand while Taryn had a small, mysterious smile on her face not unlike the one on the Mona Lisa.  She was also shaking her head at the very idea.    _

_Bridget, still smiling, then remarked, "What dreams that Riku will come down and save you?"  Daffy, realizing what she had said, then blushed and did the time-tested method of avoiding something you don't want to talk about._

_Change the subject rapidly._

_"So, who wants to go to the mall on Saturday?"  Daffy smiled at her friends.  "I really, really, REALLY want to get this Tee-shirt I saw in Lee's Tees.  It says, 'I don't suffer from insanity.  I enjoy every minute of it.'"_

_Taryn made one of her rare comments.  "Describes you perfectly," she said wryly.  "I wonder if there is some _other_ motive for going to Lee's Tees.  Perhaps it's the fact that my brother is now working there."  Taryn stared pointedly at Daffy, something she was very good at._

_"Nooo, I don't care if Jeff is working there."  Daffy suddenly looked even more embarrassed and shrunk back to the ball again.  Annie, taking pity on her, nodded to Jackie.  The two then jumped over and put their arms on her shoulders, nearly pushing Taryn off of the desk in process.  Annie put on a cheesy smile and said, "Don't worry Taryn, Daffy would never think of ogling your brother."_

_Jackie, getting in the gist of things, played along perfectly.  "Yeah, she would never abandon the rest of us single girls to be all buddy-buddy with your brother."  Then, in perfect timing, Annie and Jackie started singing off-key:_

_"We are the singles, my friends!_

_And we'll be single to the end!_

_'Cause we are the singles,_

_We are the singles!_

No time for guys 'cause we are the singles… 

_OF THE WORLD!!!!"_

_Bridget shook her head as she took out the earplugs she always carried with her.  With Jackie and Annie likely to break into song at any moment, they were a must-have.  Taryn looked slightly worse for the wear, being in such close proximity to the screami- I mean, singing.  Daffy, however, didn't seem fazed too much by it.  Hell, she might even regain her hearing by next Thursday.  Bridget then linked her eyes to Taryn's in a look that clearly said, "What the heck are we going to do with them?"  Taryn shrugged, a small smile on her face, and checked her watch. _

_She then got off of Daffy's desk and started walking toward the door.  "I'm sorry, I have to go and clean out my desk before my Mother kills me.  See you all tomorrow. And for Saturday… is one fine for all of you?"  She then stared pointedly at Annie, who loved to sleep in on the weekends.     _

_With a general murmur of consent (and Annie going "What?  WHAT?"), the "Five Horrors of the World" got up and left to do their own things. (Except for Daffy.  She sat on her desk shell-shocked.)  None of them could wait until Saturday.  Unfortunately, those plans to go to the local mall would never happen…_

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With a bolt, Annie sat upright.  Where the Hell did that come from?  Must stop eating cheese-balls before going to bed, she resolved to herself.  Shaking her head, she started to lie back down on her bed and go to sleep when pebbles started to rain on her window.  Annie groaned and stood up.  Opening and leaning out the window, she cried, "Eric, what is it?  I'm trying to sleep."  

Eric Tanning, Annie's next-door neighbor and friend, leaned out of his window as well.  "Why are you trying to sleep?  It's only…"  He looked at his watch.  "….Three fifteen in the morning?  Wow, I was online longer than I thought." 

"No shit, Sherlock.  What do you do anyway on the computer for so long anyway?"  Annie grinned as she started to do her favorite pastime: teasing Eric.  "Have a secret girlfriend you talk to?  Starting up a cult worshipping cheese?  Or there's always the old favorite: looking up porn."  She grinned sweetly, hoping on the inside that none of this was actually true.  While she liked to tease the poor guy, she still thought of him as a friend.

An annoying, teasing, 16-year-old guy friend.

The only time he had ever shown his sweet and sensitive side was when Annie lost Tito for two weeks and was bawling her eyes out.  Then Eric showed up on her doorstep holding Tito in his arms and smiling from ear to ear.  Explaining that he found Tito in the woods by the nearest sewage pipe, she had hugged him so hard for finding her beloved dog, nearly knocking his glasses off.  Annie smiled as she remembered how surprised he had looked, and how very huggable he had been…

"So what's it to you if I was looking up porn?"

Annie was jolted back to reality by the question by Eric.  How could she even be thinking about him that way?  They were such good friends, and always would be…

"Hello?  HEEEELLLLOOOO???  Earth to Annie!  Time to come back from the mothership!"

"Huh?"  Annie shook her head.  "Listen, what is it?  It is, after all, three fifteen in the morning.  Why do you need me right now?"  An annoyed look on her face, Annie crossed her arms and watched Eric as he started to shift from side to side.

"I was kinda wondering… what are you doing on Friday night?"  Eric asked Annie, a hopeful face crossing his features.  At this question, Annie's eyebrows went up.

WAY, way up.

"…What?"  That was out of the blue.  Was Eric actually asking her out?  

Eric, noticing the position of Annie's eyebrows then said quickly, "Sorry, it's just that my soccer team is sponsoring a group outing to raise money for next season.  We're going to see that new movie that just came out, the Mel Gibson one, and," he paused for breath, "since for some inexplicable reason women find him sexy, and I promised to bring a lot of people for the outing, I was wondering if you and your friends would pay ten dollars each to come on the outing.

"I mean, that's fifty dollars altogether, and this is an action-adventure, and I know you like those."  He raised his eyebrows like a salesman about to make a deal.  "So how about it?"

Annie thought for a second.  

"Ok, deal.  It's not like I have anything else to do other than sit at home and wonder, 'whatever happened to Harvey?  I want Harvey back!'"  Annie smiled and leaned against the window.  "If you ask me, 'Sabrina" went WAY downhill after Harvey left."

Eric mimicked her, and retorted, "Well, 'Sabrina' wasn't way uphill in the first place."  He pushed up the glasses falling off of his nose and looked at his watch again.  "Ok, adios.  I have to get some sleep."

"Ditto" was Annie's reply.  After quick "goodnights" the two friends went to their respective beds and slept.  Annie's last thought before slipping into unconsiousness was, _I wonder if Eric could ever like me like that. Naaah._  And so, all was quiet in this neighborhood… well, as quiet as you could get in New York City.  

At least, until a storm blew over the area, and a large purple and black hole opened up, threatening the being of all below it…

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Coming soon: We'll meet all of our favorite characters from Kingdom Hearts… and perhaps some new ones too!  Please review, and compliments and constructive criticism are ALWAYS welcomed!

                                                          -AurorasFire


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